30 Days of Thallen
by JLenon
Summary: So I'm trying this thing where I write small, simple fics for the ship, once a day. I'm hoping at the end of it I can come up with a better summary, but maybe check it out and see what you think?
1. Day One

**1\. Day One**

Eddie was having a terrible first day. First he got the wrong train, because he was new in town and he wasn't sure how to get to his job. That meant he was almost late on the first day, already causing a bad impression in his new partner. To make things worse, he looked at a pretty girl that passed beside him. It was his partner's daughter. He wasn't happy about that.

So, his day wasn't getting any better when someone left the elevator with his head on the clouds and bumped into him, almost making him drop the hundred files he spent most of his morning organizing.

"Oh, come one!" He said, frustration pouring out of his voice. "Look where you are…"

"Hey." The man said with a big smile like nothing happened. "You are the new detective, Joe's partner, right?"

Eddie took a few seconds to get back to his normal self. "Yes." He said unsure.

"Great! I'm Barry." He extended his arm. "I live with him. Lived. Well, not like, ew, no, he was my guardian. He raised me."

Eddie shook his hand, considering how much thoughts per seconds probably go through the guy's head. A very good looking head at that.

"Okay." Again, he didn't know what to say.

"Sorry about the bump." Barry added already going. "See you around."

Eddie nodded, even though Barry couldn't see it. Maybe this day still had some hope after all.


	2. Lunch

**2\. Lunch**

Eddie has just moved to Central City for the new job and, since he never knew the city before, there was a lot for him to get used to. The dynamics of the police force, for once, was something to be aware of. The train system he had to get used to. The weird, inexplicable crimes he encountered once in a while was a hard sell too. But the thing that was taking Eddie the longer to figure out was the food situation.

The truth was Eddie could probably do something in the kitchen if he had too. It wouldn't be pretty, but it would be eatable. However, every time he went to lunch was a struggle. Two weeks in, he still haven't find a place to eat. He tried a bunch, obviously, but there were always a reason why they didn't match the one he had back home.

He was trying a burger now and was disappointed again. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't good. It certainly wasn't like the one he used to eat before. So he unenthusiastically took another bite before he located a very approachable smile in front of him.

"Hey." Barry Allen, the crime scene analyst said.

"Hey." He replied still with food in his mouth. He finished it before continuing. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Look, I'm sorry to bother you at lunch, but I was crossing the street and saw you eating and I think I misplaced a file on the Parrish case and I was wondering if you could…"

"Oh, I have it." He interrupted the very fast talk of the other man. "It's in my desk. I'm meaning to give it to Joe after I finished. It's very detailed."

"Yeah." Barry scratched his head, half embarrassed. "I tend to do that, sorry."

"No, it's good. I mean, you fell very... immersed in the scene." He smiled. "Have you eaten yet? You are making me nervous standing there like this."

"I did, but honestly, if I didn't..." He lowered his voice. "Wouldn't be here. Mr. Jonhson, as much of a nice guy as he is, is trying to push his son on me for months now. Also, the food is less than stellar."

"Yeah, it was kind of a letdown."

"Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. You give a copy of the report to the lab tomorrow, I show you some nice places to eat, including the one I go almost every day, the Jitters."

"That would be amazing, yeah."


	3. Talks

**3\. Talks**

"So Barry lived with you?" Eddie asked so out of the blue that Detective Joe West almost didn't hear it. Good thing he was used to things like that, Barry Allen would do the same thing as a kid, think so hard and long about something that he would forget people around him weren't doing the same.

"He did. Then he went to college and moved out." He explained. "Why?"

"Nothing, just… I saw him when I was out having lunch and… Just a thought." He dismissed, happily getting back to his files.

Joe, though, he started to have a thought too.

That same day, Joe was going home and he found Barry walking on the hallways of the precinct. "Hey, Bar." He called the kid. "The Parrish case file…"

"Eddie has it, no?" He asked before the man could finish.

"Yes, Thawne has it." He nodded.

"Good. He said he would get me a copy tomorrow and I'll take him to Jitters. He's still looking for a good place to eat, poor guy. He was eating at Johnson's today."

"Ouch. He tried a date with his son again?"

"I don't know." Barry confessed laughing. "But it would be funny to see. Eddie seems too nice to turn it down."

"Maybe he could learn a play with you and run like hell." He teased.

"What was I supposed to do?" He shrugged, still laughing, before walking to the elevator. "See you tomorrow."

"Okay."

He looked at his almost son entering the elevator and then the doors closing. He got his phone and called Iris.

"So, I think Barry has a date…"


	4. Iris

**4\. Iris**

"It's not a date." Barry said again while Iris tried to decide what he would wear to work. Like he couldn't dress himself.

"You wanna lie you yourself, be my guess, I'm not playing this game." He said giving him another shirt. "I'm excited about this. I'm happy for you."

She did seem very happy, which only made Barry more confused. It really wasn't a date, he was just gonna show the new detective a place to eat. However, he did know he could just pass the address, he didn't have to go with. He also didn't have to flirt with the guy every time they crossed paths. Maybe it was a date. But what if he thought it was a date and Detective Thawne didn't. Eddie. If they were going on a date, maybe Barry should start thinking about him as Eddie.

"Beginning to convince yourself?" Iris asked, grabbing him off the crazy world he called mind. "That's good. Just don't be nervous, be yourself and, I don't know, follow all those silly self-help guides people force us to hear."

She finally decided and Barry had to agree it was a good shirt. He hoped not to ruin it before lunch.

"I do thank you for helping me pick a shirt, and I don't want to be rude, but don't you have anything better to do right now?"

"Not really," she shook her head, "still waiting my editor to give me something exciting to work with. While I wait, I can live through you having a date with a hot guy."

"You should have a date with a hot guy." Barry said.

"Is this an invitation?" She smiled.

"I didn't really worked out the last time." He shrugged.

"Well, we were young and stupid and more friends than lovers, which is fine considering you call my dad father and that was bound to be weird." She shrugged too. "At least you got it out of your system, you know? Can you imagine live years in anticipation for something that just wasn't meant to be?"

"Yeah, that would be torture." He nodded, grabbing the shirt and walking to his bathroom. "I'll make sure to call you after my not-date."

"You better."

At the precinct, Joe didn't fail to notice how much nicer Eddie looked for another normal day of work. He laughed looking back to his desk. "Here we go."


	5. Nervous

**5\. Nervous**

Barry wasn't nervous at all. He just got at the lab a couple (or a lot) of minutes late because Iris was still changing her mind about his shirt. He did misplaced some samples and mislabeled some stuff, but he got it together at the end and, well, it's not like he never done that before. There were a lot of reasons for Barry to convince himself he wasn't nervous.

However, when Eddie stepped inside his lab, his inviting grin and friendly eyes beaming at him, he just had to accept. He was nervous.

Soon he realized he shouldn't, though. Because the no-date was great. They walked to Jitters and that allowed Barry to talk about the city and simples stuff people who live long enough in the same place know. That made him feel more comfortable talking to Eddie.

He learned about Eddie's family, who he missed, of course, but still thought it was a good thing to take a break and try something new and different. He heard about how Eddie never thought about being a cop, he wanted to be a teacher, but somewhere along his life he realized that wasn't what he was meant to be.

Barry also learned it was really easy to talk to Eddie. And that with the light in just that exact angle, hitting Eddie's hair in that position, formed an outstanding view. That's when he asked Eddie out in a yes-date. And Eddie said yes. And Barry realized he wasn't that nervous anymore.


	6. Boxing

**6\. Boxing**

Dating Barry was wild ride for Eddie. He suddenly came from knowing no one in a completely new city to being surrounded by a lot of people always waiting for help, sometimes even without him asking.

He met Iris, Joe's daughter and Barry's best friend, about a week after their first date and she was a force to be reckon with. It was fun to get to know her and imagine a little about how Barry's childhood had been. He could understand why he had such a crush on her in the past.

Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow were two more people he grew to know and love. They were Barry's friend from college and, even though he went to public serve while they invested in private research, they were still hang around and be crazy nerds about science. A bunch of times Eddie had no idea what they were talking about, but he still liked to hear them geek out about some new technology or some new thing they learned at work.

The fact was Eddie decided to move to start again and build a new life and that life became more and more about Barry. It wasn't a bad thing, he loved having Barry around, but also gave him this feeling getting more from the relationship than he had to offer. That's why after two months dating, they were in the precinct training area after hours, working out clothes and a huge punching bag between them.

"I still don't understand this." Barry said looking at the set up.

"What is there to understand? You just, you know, punch!" Eddie said excitedly.

"Yeah, I get that, thank you. But why? Punching this isn't exactly romantic."

"Dates don't always have to be romantic, they can be fun."

"Like punching a bag full of sand." Barry nodded, getting ready for it.

"See, you are already getting it."

"Okay, let me…" He jumped around a little bit, getting ready for the punch. The problem was, when he actually got to it, he kind of missed the bag. No entirely, but almost all and most of his fist actually found Eddie's face.

The detective didn't expect at all and that, obviously, meant he ended up on the floor.

"Wow." Barry said trying to help the soon black eyed detective. "I didn't mean to do that."

"I sure hope so." He said sitting and putting a hand on his face. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"I'm so sorry." Barry said feeling guilty and amusement at the same time. "But that was kind of your fault because, really, how was that a good idea."

"It could have been, you know, without this part. I just… I don't know, wanted to teach you something, I guess? I'm not entirely sure what I was doing yet."

"Well, try to ask me what I want to learn, next time? Because apparently I'm kind of dangerous on this thing."

"I would say." Eddie laughed, touching his own face again. It was hurting quite a bit. "You think you can kiss to make it better?"

"I think ice would be more effective, but I would never miss an opportunity to kiss you."


	7. Doctor Who

**7\. Doctor Who**

"This is not your favorite show." Barry said so sure, his voice cracked.

"Of course it's." Eddie said trying to put as much offence on his reply as possible. "I've been watching Doctor Who forever, I even have a favorite Doctor."

They were sitting in Eddie's couch, looking at Eddies TV which was paused in the first frame of the newest Doctor Who episode.

"Which one?"

"Nine! He is wrongly forgotten and it's amazing and cheeky and also kissed Captain Jack."

Barry looked at him, stared right into his eyes looking for any hesitation. He didn't find any.

"I can't believe you watch Doctor Who." He said shaking his head, trying to wrap his mind around it.

"Why? It's a great show, with a immense history and what? You don't think I'm smart enough to follow the plot? Can admire the well-written science fused with heart in the first four seasons? Because I'm just a stupid detective who gets punched by their boyfriends in bad dates?"

"That was an accident."

"Tell that to my neighbor that said I should leave you because I don't deserve to be treated like that."

"I'll." Barry said with a mix of laugh and guilty. "It's not black anymore, at least."

"Yeah, thank God."

"And sorry about the disbelieve. I just thought it would be cool to show you something that I really like and hope that you would like too."

"Barry, practically everything I know about this town I learned from you.

"I know, I think that made me kind of addicted to it."

Eddie smiled and slowly kissed his boyfriend, who kind of melted in his arms because really, who wouldn't do that?

"Cisco talked about watching the 50 Anniversary Special with you in the theater, so I binge watched the whole series to surprise you. But then you set up this viewing party and, well, that was that."

"I knew you wouldn't just be a fan out of nowhere."

"I could be! I'm just not that into television. But this show... this one is good. And I have a suspicion it's gonna be better with your simultaneous commentary."

"That I can promise."


	8. Maybe

**8\. Maybe**

"Just promise me you are not gonna, like, geek out to much with her?" Eddie asked before he and his boyfriend entered the restaurant.

"Shut up, I don't geek out with Felicity."

"Yes, you do." He complain. "And then I have to look at Oliver with that blank face he does all the time.

"You can geek out with us, I'll let you." Barry smiled and got closer to kiss Eddie because he seemed way to nervous. It was just a double date with a friend/ex-girlfriend he had and the super hot and also not so sociable new boyfriend. No big deal.

"Like that's possible."

"I promise we'll keep the conversation out of computers and... 'geek stuff'" He frowned because he really didn't believe he ever did anything like that.

"That's not the... Look, you have this beautiful, beautiful mind that works on a way very peculiar to you. And I love you and your mind, however I need to use all my rusty one to keep up with you from time to time, which is okay, I can't use the exercise. However, you get together with Felicity, who is great but also has a very, very crazy mind and, honestly, even though I really try, sometimes I just nod and give up in even listening."

When he saw the thoughtful face of Barry he regretted saying anything because he didn't want to hurt him or make him feel uncomfortable spending time with a friend he don't usually see. He was ready to apologize when Barry said.

"You said you love me." Barry stated with such a calm and collective voice, Eddie used a second to understand.

"Did I?" He widened his eyes when he realized that he actually did. "I didn't... Wow. I guess I do. Love you, I mean."

"Yeah." Barry nodded. "Maybe I love you too.


	9. Surprise

**9\. Surprise**

Having a boyfriend was weird, Barry came to understand. It wasn't the first time he was with someone, but a committed relationship of almost six months? That was kinda of new to him. He was suddenly aware of things Eddie would like when he walked on the street and actually remember telling him later. He would also sometimes not buy something he liked to eat because Eddie didn't like it, not because he couldn't eat it, but because he knew Eddie wouldn't like it and he hasn't eat alone for a while now.

He also noticed he was spending a lot more time at Eddie's place than his.

That didn't escape Eddie's mind, apparently. Because one of the days he was getting really cold and decided to borrow a sweeter from his boyfriend, he found a whole section of the wardrobe empty.

Eddie didn't realize at first what was going on until he remembered about it and ran to the room. It was too late, Barry had seen it already.

"It was suppose to be a surprise."

"What, that you a giving a third of your clothes away?"

"No, that maybe if you want to you can use this par for some of your things." He said very slowly, trying to read every expression Barry had on his face. "You don't have to, but you are spending a lot of time here, which I love, but it kind of makes you carry this bag around all the time and I'm worried it's getting too heavy and you'll end up, like, with back problems or something."

"So, this is about my back?" Barry asked with a smirk, getting closer to Eddie and giving in a passionate kiss. "I'm so lucky I have a boyfriend who worries about my health."

"Yeah, I think your boyfriend is awesome. Mine, though? He is fantastic."


	10. Unbreakable

**10\. Unbreakable**

Working with the police, the danger was always something that Barry considered. Especially with Joe being a detective, since he was a child it was very easy to find him nervous when something big was happening around town. So, now that he was dating not only a detective, but Joe's partner, his worries doubled.

So, obviously, when both men were involved in a hostage situation downtown, Barry was siting on the floor, his face glued to the screen following every news outlet that were showing live footage of the bank.

"They are gonna be okay." Iris said sitting in the couch behind him, but he was pretty sure it was more for her sake than his own.  
"I know, it's just painful to watch. One thing can just… One thing can go wrong and then…"  
"Nothing is gonna go wrong, they are there only for backup, wasn't that what Eddie said?"  
"He could be lying for me not to worry."  
"If he was, he'd a terrible job." Iris sat next to him and hugged him. "They are gonna be okay. Both of them."  
"I know." He nodded, this time more for his sake than hers. "It's not even the first time we are here, is it?"  
"No, it isn't. But we worry all the same. Maybe it's worst for you because, you know, you have two there."  
"Yeah, at least I have one here." He hugged her back.  
"You do."

Half an hour later the situation was solved and Barry was the one in the crime scene, collecting evidence and getting together what happened. Once he got there, he really wanted to hug Joe and kiss Eddie, but being a professional as he was, he couldn't.

That didn't stop Joe from pulling him into a hug.

"We're good, kid. We're good."


	11. Mom

**11\. Mom**

Barry always had a hard time talking about his mother. Even now that his father was released based on now DNA evidences, it was still something so traumatic who shaped his life and his personality. He knew he was fortunate to have Joe in his life, he knew it could have been a lot worse for him. But that didn't mean it hurt any less that they, the anniversary of his mother death.

He figure Eddie knew one thing or two about what happened, since he worked with Joe for a while now and also had access to the police reports and usual office gossip, but when he woke up and decided to tell his boyfriend, the man was genuinely surprise. Barry was ready for the pity look people usually threw at him in that situations, but he didn't found it. Instead, his boyfriend hugged him and told him how sorry he was and how strong Barry was for going through all that and still be as together as he was.

Barry wasn't sure how together he actually was, but he was sure that the man hugging him and making him feel better in that day that brought him so many memories was the right man to be with.


	12. Lie

**12\. Lie**

Eddie didn't like to lie. First because it was something really against what he believe to be right and good. If he couldn't tell someone something, he probably shouldn't be doing it. Second, he was terrible at it.

That time, though, it was for a good cause. Mr. Allen, Barry's dad was coming to town and he wanted to make a surprise. The only reason Eddie knew before time was because the man was still a little anxious around cops, for what Joe told him. So he had to sit quiet and not tell his boyfriend something that would make him really happy.

That was hard, to say the least. Not only because Barry was obviously on to him, but because it was something that would made Barry smile. And Eddie loved Barry smile and how his eyes shinned and his mouth opened up and the sound.

"Your father is coming to town." He confessed, half embarrassed because Barry didn't do barely anything. "Please, don't tell Joe I told you."


	13. Presents

**13\. Presents**

Eddie was terrible at presents, even though he always loved to give and receive them. So, naturally, when he decided to get something from Barry, he goes to the people next to him to ask for advice.

"An alarm clock." Joe said without giving any real help.

"An ice gun." Cisco suggested with his mind probably more on the clouds than in the real world.

"I saw a book about ethics in science that sounds very interesting." Caitlin actually tried to help, but the impersonality of her suggestion made Eddie look for another idea.

"Why are you even giving him a present, though? It's not his birthday of anything." Iris inquired. "Did you cheat on him?"

Eddie got kind of discouraged after receiving this underwhelming help. He was dating Barry for months now he should be able to pick a present for him, right?

He walks aimless throughout the store for at least an hour before he pick the presents. An alarm clock, a water gun he was planning on freezing, a book about ethics in science and a self-made greeting card saying 'I'm not cheating. This is your friends fault'.


	14. Star Wars

**14\. Star Wars**

Barry was getting ready and he was so excited. He has been texting Cisco about it all week and now it would actually happen, Barry Allen would watch a new Star Wars movie and he couldn't be more anxious about it.

At first, the plan was to watch it with Cisco and Caitlin, at least that was what they agreed as soon as they heard the movie would actually be made. It would be this big celebration of all the nerdiness they shared, even though Caitlin was a lot more controlled than the other two. It wasn't like he had comics and books and knew so much about the extended universe as Cisco did. She was still pretty pumped, though, more because of how much the boys were.

Then, came Eddie, and Jay, and Kendra. The nerdiness celebration became a triple dat, with Cisco and Barry trying to play it cool how much they loved the franchise. It didn't work, because Eddie knew Barry too well and Cisco could never hold his obsession with it.

And then the moment came. They were walking and talking about their previous experiences with the franchise, Cisco shamelessly describing just how much time he watched the movies (it was a lot) and Eddie said the words.

"I'm not sure I watched them."

It was like a bomb of disbelieve being dropped on Barry's head. He turned to the man while Cisco dramatically stopped walking and stared at him too.

"Say what now?"

"Oh, I mean, I'm pretty sure I watched it on TV or something." He said casually, going from Cisco to Barry.

Barry took a deep breath. "I need to know what you saw."

Eddie described what he gathered was Star Wars and the more words he said, the more scared and completely anguished they got.

Once he finished, he looked at Jay, Caitlin and Kendra, who just knew what was coming.

"That's a different movie." Cisco said with his hands on his head. "How did you manage to live this long and not know what Star Wars was? Barry, how did you let that happen?"

"How is that my fault?" He said defensibly. "I'm as surprised as you are and," he turned to Eddie, "why didn't you ever told me that? I have been talking about this for months."

"I thought I knew what you were talking about." Eddie said quite embarrassed at this point. "Also, sometime you get too excited and I stop hearing."

"You…" He pointed at Eddie's chest, "has some catching up to do."

And he did the entire following week, watching a movie per day with Barry by his side doing live commentary and fanboyish sex after. Eddie ended up really liking Star Wars. Maybe they should watch it every week.

N/A: _I'm not sure about this one, but that was the best I could come up with today. I used the prompt from alloftheprompts on tumblr, so feel free to go there and give them some love. And if you want something or have some idea, let me know, 'cause there're still 16 days and I have nothing right now lol_


	15. Anger

**15\. Anger**

Barry Allen wasn't a person who let anger took over him. He could probably remember all the three times when that happened. That one time when he was a little kid and some neighbor kid broke his favorite toy. He pushed the kid, who ran running for his mother. Barry could still remember his mother putting him in his lap and telling him how sometimes things would happen, things that would make him sad, disappointed and sometimes angry as he was that day. And that he had a choice, he could let the anger take him over and do something he didn't usually do, like pushing a kid because of a broken toy, or he could take a deep breath and remember sometimes bad things happened for no reason. The broken toy was an accident and even if it wasn't, Barry shouldn't be an angry kid. Like he shouldn't be an angry man.

The second time it happened, his mother wasn't around to calm him. Actually, the second time happened exactly because his mother wasn't around. Some mean kid from school decided it was a good idea to make fun of the kid who lost his mother and had his father arrested. It was still so damn recent and so damn raw for Barry, he didn't even remember when he used his backpack to hit the boy in the face, much less when he sat over him and punched him in the face until a teacher physically removed him. He didn't hit all the punches, he wasn't even sure how much strength he was using, tears and arms falling in the face of the boy under him.

The third time, Barry realized, was now, when he threw a beaker against a wall. Because he just heard about Eddie being hurt. Even with all the worry, even with how much careful they both were with their jobs, bad things still happened. Eddie was still in the hospital after being attacked by a criminal who was trying to run.

It was completely bullshit that he was simply in the wrong place and in the wrong time. It was completely idiocy that the man thought he could just hurt a cop and be done with it.

Detective Pivot was too shocked to say anything for a few seconds, considering that she worked with Barry for a fairly amount of times and never saw he losing control like that. She explained that the doctors were optimistic, that Detective Thawne would probably be okay.

Although it did relieved Barry, it didn't diminished his anger. Going to the hospital and seeing the worry on Joe's face and the guilty the man was carrying for not protecting his partner better didn't make him feel less pissed with the world. Seeing Eddie's face and forced smile when he was finally woke again? Well, that pretty much washed Barry's soul.


	16. Cat

"I so didn't break into your apartment just to pet your cat please don't call the cops" AU

\- (valkyrieraisingcain)

* * *

 **16\. Cat**

Barry had a particular tiring day, with a lot of samples to test following this big and messy crime scene. It didn't help how many people would come to his lab and interrupt him just to get updates. Maybe without people getting in his way, he would have updates.

That meant, of course, he was more tired and more distracted as usual, which was already something big on his daily basis. The cat sitting in the middle of the hallway of his building just proved that, because Barry was quite hypnotized by the animal. He was so cute and fluffy and he crunched down just to mess with him. And when the cat began to walk away, he followed, of course. Because he just wanted to play with it a little more, just a little longer.

He didn't realized when he entered a random apartment who had its door open. He just realized the blond man on his underwear standing in from of him. Barry stood up slowly, trying hard not to pay that much attention on the man's body in front of him. He failed, obviously. That only made him more embarrassed.

"I'm not breaking and entering you apartment, I promise. Well, I kind of am, but accidently, because I..." he looked behind of him to see try and piece out what he did, "I guess I was following the cat and the cat came here, but I don't remember any door and I'm tired."

Barry did his best to appear his inoffensive self, because really invading people's houses was never his thing. However, the man stay silent for a few seconds and that seemed like hours for the very embarrassed Barry.

"It's okay, he probably left the door open and when you started petting him, he came back. Joe loves to do stuff like that." He had a small smile when he talked and that made Barry relax a little bit.

"His name is Joe?" He crunched down again to pet the very beautiful cat. "One of my fathers name is Joe." He said happily because it was such a coincidence, he really liked Joe and he was really tired.

"Two fathers?" The man asked doing the same. Maybe their hands touched from time to time, but nobody noticed that. "That's awesome."

"It's, I guess. I mean, they are not. They are not a couple, people seem to think that when I say I have to fathers."

"Yeah, I was thinking that were the case."

"No, it was just Joe raising me when my biological father couldn't." Barry took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm tired and hungry and I broke into your house and I'm being very confusing." He stood up again. "I should go home, try to get together some energy and make something to eat."

"Or we can make a deal?" The man said looking at Barry. "You can look over Joe and make sure he doesn't get lost in the city I don't know nothing about and I can share the pizza I just bought before you came in."

"That's… a great idea." Barry nodded because he was really hungry.

"I'll just maybe put some clothes on."

He said and if Barry thought he should keep without them, he didn't say it. Even though he wanted to.


	17. Online

**17\. Online**

Barry wasn't that excited when he was presented with the idea. Actually, he was quite sure it was a bad idea and he probably would be mad if it wasn't for Caitlin, Iris and Cisco very good intentions. He also had some level of difficult being mad at his friends, considering how silly and bighearted they all were.

However, online dating was just not his thing, right? I mean, there was a reason why they set up the whole profile without telling him, he would never agree with it. And it wasn't like he needed a boyfriend, he was okay being alone for a while. Especially after the mess that his last relationship was, Len ending up in prison. He could use some time alone.

His friends didn't agree, though. They said 'don't hide yourself in that lab, there are great guys out there'. Like they were even following their own advice, Iris was still single too.

"This is not about me." She shut him down before he could say anything else. He would still say no to all of that, but the photo they showed him made him change his mind.

It was the face of the date they set up for him. They did talk to the guy pretending it was Barry and he complained about it a little, but the man was gorgeous. And the date was already set, so it would be rude to cancel now. Right?

The guy's name was Eddie and they decided for a lunch date because it had less pressure and they could see what goes from there. Iris thought it was a great chance for them to meet at the Jitters so she, Caitlin and Cisco could stalk them. Barry said no. They went anyway.

"Hi." The man said sitting across from Barry. He had a big, charming smile. "You are Barry, right?"

"Yes." Barry nodded, more nervous than he expected.

"I recognized your photo." He said. "It was a nice hat."

"It was." Barry laughed nervously because it was a self he took with silly hats in a clothing store and he hated his friends for picking that one. "I was being silly when I took it. I didn't even buy it."

"You should, you looked very good in it." Eddie nodded and then pointed at the coffee that was sitting in their table. "Is it good?"

"Oh, yeah. I come here all the time, it's close to my work."

"Really? What you work with?"

"Forensics. I work at the precinct's lab."

"You look very young for that."

"I look younger, I guess."

They stayed quiet for a while because Barry wasn't sure what else to say. First dates were already hard enough, blind ones from Internet websites seem to be excruciating.

"Maybe I should go get one?" Eddie asked, pointing at the queue behind them. "I'll be right back."

The fact that he didn't even wait for the weak 'okay' Barry gave him was a sign things weren't going so well.

"Wow, you are terrible at this." Cisco said sitting where Eddie was sitting before. Iris and Caitlin sat next to him, surround him with pity looks.

"I'm." Barry said hiding his face behind his hands. "Why did I agree with this?"

"Because you didn't have anything better to do." Iris said. "Also, he is really pretty."

"So pretty." Barry repeated, nodding. "I have nothing to say, my life is incredibly boring. The most amusing thing that happen to me was almost getting hit by lightning."

"I don't think any almost thing is a good date conversation." Caitlin patted his back trying to comfort him. "You are way more charming than this, by the way. I can't believe you can spend three hours talking silly Cisco in the lab and can't keep a conversation with a guy that's obviously interested. Because you were a disaster and he didn't ran home yet."

They vanished before the man was back, even though Barry could still feel their eyes on him. He could be better at this thing, he knew he could.

"The coffee?" He asked.

"Very good." Eddie said before taking another sip. "I didn't know the place, but I think it already charmed me."

"Oh, good, because I'm doing a terrible job." Barry let it slip and then regretted the words. "I wasn't supposed to say that, probably. I don't do this sort of thing, blind dates thing, I get too nervous and I go from saying stupid things to saying nothing and looking rude and just a lot of very weird things and…" He stopped talking to catch his breath. "I'm not crazy, I promised, I was checked out as a child."

"I… don't doubt it." Eddie said holding a laugh. "I'm actually quite nervous too, I have been trying this site for a couple of weeks and it has been terrible, honestly. Most guys just want to get me in the bathroom and just do it, like, I spend almost an hour setting that profile, it wasn't for a quick in the bathroom."

"Oh, thanks, you just screwed my plan to save this date."

They laughed and while Eddie told him about some of the other bad experiences he had with online dating, Barry was getting less and less nervous. He even felt good enough to tell him some silly stories from his friends, like the one time they set up a profile on a dating site for him. Eddie laughed at that too before Barry asked him on a second date. He said yes.


End file.
